By Staff Correspondent
An era ended this Monday morning when the last 747-400 took off from Mumbai for Plainfield in the US where it will be dismantled. The Maharajah’s best days were directly connected to this Jumbo jet but the shoddy goodbye did it no reverence. Even though the crew touched a tender nerve of nostalgia with a wing wave as it rose in fare thee well the 747 named Jumbo was dismissed sans pomp and ceremony. New planes are given a water gun salute. Surely the last 747 from a fleet that for 40 years was Air India’s strongest factor could have been sent off with a marching band.
What was once registered as VT-EVA is now lovingly known as “Agra”—Air India’s last Boeing 747, touched down in Plainfield, USA, and will soon be annihilated and scrapped for its components.
Following its January 2022 acquisition, the Tata Group ordered the four surviving planes to be sold by a remarketing company located in the United Kingdom, Skytech-AIC. Reportedly, AerSale, a US-based provider of aftermarket commercial jet engines and components has acquired the four 747-400 aircraft. Two of the planes will reportedly be turned into freighters, while the other two will be dismantled for their components, according to the sources.
On March 22, 1971, the first Boeing 747 was delivered to Air India. On May 21 of that year, the plane began flying four times weekly between India and London. Its three-class layout accommodated 423 passengers.
Before the Indian Air Force (IAF) bought two Boeing 777s in 2020, the planes also carried very important persons (VVIPs), such as prime ministers, presidents, and vice presidents, while they were in use by the airline.
When Air India’s executives were on the clock, they’d remove seats from these Boeing 747s to make them into executive configuration.
When Air India first began using Boeing 747s, the airline renamed the planes and introduced them to the world under the slogan “Your Place in the Sky.” It also brought a new design to the aircraft, which had white and silver exteriors accented with red features and windows painted as arches in the Rajasthani style, creating the illusion of balconies similar to the ones seen on the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur.
After being de-registered by the DGCA last year due to retirement, the plane had a symbolic makeover: its Air India insignia and titles were removed to make place for a temporary American registration, N940AS, which allowed it to depart from its previous home base.
